Newt Gingrich Hit the Jackpot With Freddie Mac Historian Gig

Newt Gingrich has some of his $1.6 million from Freddie Mac "historian" consulting fees stuffed in his chins, I believe. (AP Photo by Steven Senne)

These days Newt Gingrich is rising in the polls among GOP presidential candidates. Hard to believe, huh? Just weeks ago (read: TWO weeks ago) we had written him off.

With more fame comes more scrutiny. Gingrich attracted a lot of attention from his statements in last week’s CNBC debate when he said he was “anhistorian” for Freddie Mac shortly before the housing bubble burst.

The controversy began immediately — over both the correct definition of Newt’s position and the sickening amount of money he was paid to perform it.

The first problem is that this “historian” position sounds an awful lot like a lobbying job. It would be in piss poor taste for Newt to now bash Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae when he made it rain on his own bank account with their consulting fees five years ago. Also, lobbying in and of itself is like a curse word in some political circles. The idea that people argue for special interests over the will of the people is akin to a scarlet letter.

Let’s also discuss his salary. It has been also reported that Gingrich earned between $25,000 and $30,000 PER MONTH in his role as a(n) lobbyist HISTORIAN for this government agency. Over the course of some years that totaled between $1.6 and $1.8 million.

Gingrich says during his consulting gig he warned the agency about the impending housing bubble burst. It’s funny that I don’t remember him publicly warning us of any future financial distress. Historian or not … that would have been a pretty helpful tip for millions of people!

Looks like the political world is going to ride him for awhile about this major flip-flop. Meanwhile, I’ll check CareerBuilder.com TODAY and see if they have historian positions available. I need that kind of cash in my life quickly.